A series of late yellow flags foiled Gordon's plans to win his first race of the year. The caution first came out with 33 laps to go with Jimmie Johnson had a tire issue. Denny Hamlin spun out with 25 laps to go with Gordon in fourth at that point.

“Joey was in the right place there,” Gordon said. “He had a good short run car and we were battling it out. And Matt was making his car really super-wide, which you’ve got to do to try to win, and we were just battling hard.

“It was a great battle,” Gordon added. “Overall, I’m very happy with the results of this race team and the effort. I’m having so much fun. The pit stops were amazing tonight, we are leading the points and it’s just a matter of time before this team wins.”

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